---
title: 'Cypress Accessibility | How it works'
description: 'Accessibility checks are powered by Axe Core® from Deque Systems based on common accessibility standards.'
sidebar_label: 'How it works'
sidebar_position: 50
---

<ProductHeading product="accessibility" />

# How it works

Cypress Accessibility seamlessly integrates accessibility testing into your development pipeline. Below are the stages of the Cypress Accessibility process:

1. **Recording and uploading**: As your test run is recorded, specs are uploaded to Cypress Cloud. Accessibility checks begin based on incoming [Test Replay](/cloud/features/test-replay) data on Cypress Cloud servers.
1. **Processing**: When your run completes, the final specs are processed for accessibility checks. Earlier specs have already entered processing and are likely completed by the end of the run.
1. **Organizing Views**: Cypress Cloud groups Views (pages and components) rendered during the run, merging and deduplicating across tests. This ensures page-level results and live DOM snapshots are organized effectively.
1. **Generating reports**: A combined "rule-level" report is created, summarizing all detected accessibility violations.
1. **Displaying results**: Results are displayed in Cypress Cloud in the run details area as well as in [Branch Review](/accessibility/core-concepts/compare-reports) for comparing runs. Accessibility is also flagged in integrations (e.g., Slack, GitHub/GitLab comments), and accessible via the [Results API](/accessibility/results-api) for optional CI pipeline actions (e.g., failing builds based on unmet standards).

## About Axe Core®

Axe Core® is an open-source library by Deque Systems, widely recognized for detecting accessibility violations. With over a billion downloads on npm, it is used in numerous tools at multiple stages of the software development cycle. If you are already using other Axe Core®-based tools, Cypress Accessibility's configuration can be easily aligned with your existing accessibility standards across different teams and platforms.

Axe Core® checks for accessibility violations in your website's user interface, based on common accessibility standards. A violation detected by Axe usually indicates that some users with disabilities would have a problem using or perceiving a feature. An example of a violation would be an image without alternative text provided in the markup, which means the content is not perceivable to visually-impaired users. [Learn more about Axe.](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core)

While this process reaches a high standard for automated testing, it cannot test every possible aspect of compliance, especially for heavily custom interfaces or aspects requiring human judgment.

This means that a 100% axe score does not mean all possible accessibility errors have been ruled out. Deque reports that [Axe Core® can detect up to 57% of the issues that would appear in a manual accessibility audit](https://www.deque.com/blog/automated-testing-study-identifies-57-percent-of-digital-accessibility-issues/).

The value of this form of testing in Cypress Accessibility is to give you fast, reliable, easy-to-understand feedback about common accessibility mistakes that are found in most projects. Providing these results automatically as part of your test run means that you can find and fix these issues with minimal friction, shifting accessibility left in your software development lifecycle.

## Axe Core® updates

Axe Core® is regularly updated, with Cypress following a controlled adoption process:

- Update Policy: Cypress Cloud integrates new Axe Core® versions at least 30 days after their release. This provides teams time to review the Axe Core® [changelog](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core/blob/develop/CHANGELOG.md) so you can make any necessary adjustments to your process in advance of Cypress Cloud bumping the version.
- Changelog Tracking: Updates are documented in the Cypress Accessibility [changelog](https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core/blob/develop/CHANGELOG.md), starting December 1, 2024.
- Critical Exceptions: In cases like critical security patches, updates may occur sooner, with notifications provided to affected customers.

## Powered by Test Replay

Cypress Accessibility leverages data captured through Test Replay, ensuring comprehensive analysis while being subject to its limitations. Read [How Test Replay Works](/cloud/features/test-replay#How-Test-Replay-Works) to discover which data is captured and which browsers are supported.
